Hospital, CN property priorities at pre-budget meeting

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Published on Thursday, March 3, 2016

By Eoin Devereux

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Ratepayers in Neepawa had an opportunity to chime in on what the spending priorities should be for the 2016 municipal budget. A dozen people attended the forum on Monday, Feb. 29, at the Town of Neepawa administrative office. 

Councillor and chair of the Finance and Administration committee, Bill Stilwell, said the meeting was a chance for the community to have a more direct impact on where its tax dollars are going to be spent. He noted that even though the attendance was sparse, the ideas from those who were in attendance were very engaging and positive.

“I think that [the pre budget meeting] was a really worthwhile exercise. We received some very valuable input from the public,” said Stilwell. “It was a representative group from the public, in my opinion. We could have used a few more people. We frequently hear people voicing their opinions after the fact. This was their opportunity to shape the budget. To inform us as to what they deem priorities. 

We got some of those comments tonight and we’re listening to what people said and we’re going to take their comments under advisement. We’re going to use that information during the budget deliberations,” said Stilwell.

The consultation involved ratepayers being split into smaller groups and discussing a set of five questions designed to help prioritize town spending. The questions included:

Please list in order of importance what you believe should be the priorities of the Town of Neepawa. (Listed in no specific order)

a) Construction of a fire hall

b) Hospital

c) Water and sewer upgrades

d) A multiple purpose recreation facility

e) Structural upgrades to Highway 16

f) Establishment of infrastructure (i.e. water and power) to the C.N. property

2) The Town of Neepawa gives grants annually to support organizations using public funds. Do you agree or disagree? And why?

3) Cemetery costs. Any suggestions on how this could be corrected?

4) Sanitation. The cost of garbage collection and recycling is currently being contracted out and costs about $300 per household annually. Should the town look at owning and operating this service?

5) Recreation and culture. Any suggestions on how the costs for recreation and culture (i.e.,  usage of the swimming pool and soccer fields) could be equalized?

The majority of respondents believe that the town should reevaluate the amount of spending that’s done for the perpetual care at the cemetery. The belief from those in attendance was that the spending should be corrected and redistributed to a degree towards other services. 

In regards to project priorities, the hospital, C.N. property and water and sewer upgrades ranked high, while a multi-purpose facility and Highway 16 ranked low. A suggestion was made, however, for Town Council to set aside additional support for the Yellowhead Centre specifically earmarked for structural upgrades to the arena and hall to extend the lifespan of the building. That suggestion was taken under advisement.

For the distribution of grants to local organizations, many ratepayers felt that this was a topic that may require examination on a case by case basis. As for sanitation, the consensus leaned towards maintaining the status quo, but legitimately examining the long term costs of taking over the service, as the cost is continuing to increase year over year. The one topic in which no clear answer could be found was the equalization of costs for recreation and culture between the people from town and those who are from neighbouring R.Ms who also use the services.

After the meeting drew to a close, Mayor Adrian de Groot said he’s very pleased with the public response from this endeavour.

“There were a lot of good questions asked tonight. There was good input into how we can improve this process and engage people. We know as a council there are a few subjects people are passionate about. There are things where they’d prefer to see spending allocated towards. So we have to consider that as we sit down and decide where the spending needs to go. We really appreciated the response,” said de Groot.

The budget document for the town of Neepawa should be prepared by mid to late March.